How Benjamin Franklin\'s Inventions Impacted Society

Benjamin Franklin's inventions impact society.

Benjamin Franklin: The impact of his inventions

As well as one of the Founding Fathers of America, Benjamin Franklin was a great inventor and scientist. His inventions have had a lasting impact upon the world. Franklin was not formally educated, but he was a great reader and observer. His inventions were largely practical, but the principles upon which they were based were well-grounded in scientific theory. "Franklin was one of the most practical inventors in history. He built many devices that were designed to help improve or solve everyday problems" ("Benjamin Franklin: Inquiring mind," PBS, 2011). Franklin often began with problems that he was personally affected with, like poor eyesight, the inability to reach books on a high bookcase, or the dangers of wood-burning stoves and strikes by lightening. Then, he used the scientific method to analyze the problem, and find solutions. Franklin's model of scientific analysis and intuitive problem solving can be seen in the examples of many self-educated entrepreneurs today, such as Steve Jobs, who only had one semester of college education and began what evolved into the Apple computer company in a garage.

Many people would be unable to read this document without Franklin's invention of bifocals. Franklin had poor vision and disliked having to switch back and forth between two pairs of glasses. Instead, he created glasses with two sets of lenses that enabled him to see both far and near distances. Franklin wrote he was: "happy in the invention of double spectacles, which serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my eyes as useful to me as ever they were" ("The Electric Ben Franklin," U.S. History, 2011). Another of his medical inventions, a flexible urinary catheter, was designed to help his older brother John, who suffered from kidney stones. Until Franklin, all urinary catheters designed to help people who had trouble passing urine were made from painfully inflexible materials ("The Electric Ben Franklin," U.S. History, 2011).

Franklin was well-traveled and used his experiences abroad to inform his inventions. During one of his many voyages at sea, "Franklin suggested following the Chinese model of dividing ships' holds into watertight compartments so that if a leak occurred in one compartment, the water would not spread throughout the hold and sink the ship" ("Benjamin Franklin's inventions," The Franklin Institute, 2011). Franklin was also the first man to ever map the Gulf Stream, because he was curious as to why trips east were faster than return trips. His map led to better understanding of the ocean currents of the area ("Benjamin Franklin's inventions," The Franklin Institute, 2011).

Franklin's mind was constantly searching how to solve home-based problems as well, both large and small. For example, in colonial America, houses were warmed by wood-burning fireplaces. These open fireplaces were dangerous and many homes burned to the ground as a result. Franklin invented an iron furnace stove that allowed people to warm their homes without an exposed flame, and with less wood. This type of furnace is still called a Franklin stove. The stove was warmer and produced less smoke: "This cast-iron furnace would radiate heat from the middle of the room in all directions, and the iron walls even absorbed heat, providing warmth to the room long after the fire went out" ("The Electric Ben Franklin," U.S. History, 2011). Franklin was offered the opportunity to patent his stove, which he declined, because he considered it so useful and necessary he wanted as many people to have access to it as possible, although he said he later heard that an ironmonger obtained a patent on a 'copycat' stove. In fact, "Of the numerous inventions Franklin created, he did not patent a single one" ("Benjamin Franklin: Inquiring mind," PBS, 2011). This spirit of 'sharing' rather than hording information is still seen at many companies today, such as the information search engine company Google, whose first principle is to do no evil.

Of course, the most famous image of Franklin the inventor does not pertain to something he 'invented,' but one of his most famous experiments: flying a kite during a lightening storm. Franklin challenged the commonly-held conception of electricity of his day, which was that the force "consisted of two opposing forces" ("The Electric Ben Franklin," U.S. History, 2011). Franklin showed "that electricity consisted of a 'common element' which...passed from one body to another "like a fluid and could not be destroyed ("The Electric Ben Franklin," U.S. History, 2011).

Franklin's experiments with electricity led him to create what he considered his most important invention -- the lightening rod, which prevented damage to life and property. The rod was a "metal rod attached to the high point of a building. A metal wire or cable ran from the rod, down the side of the building, and into the ground. When lighting struck, the electricity ran down the rod and cable and into the ground, preventing damage to the building" ("Benjamin Franklin: Inquiring mind," PBS, 2011).